Pissed off with monitors. I need a decent 24-26" panel.

[BrunoPuntzJones]

Tired of the shit blacks, vertical bands, piss poor colors, etc.

I've had tons of LCDs and now getting tired of poor color reproduction and lousy brightness. At work I admin several dozen and it's not a big deal for Excel, but getting tired of the one at home.

I'm looking for:

24" to 26" panel
1920x1080 resolution (don't want to go any higher as I'm not looking to upgrade my vid card (GTX 260)).
Must have a VESA mount. I use an articulating arm, none of the newer LED LCDs support this???

Cost is important, but I know a $200 Sunday special isn't going to fit the bill. But don't want to drop $1500 on a CAD monitor either.

Suggestions?

 

[taltamir]

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/monitors/display/lcd-monitor-buyers-guide-spring2010.html

 

[Patrick Wolf]

Get a nice mid-size or large 1080p HDTV. I say screw TNs. e-IPS, C-PVA, and all other tech used in small, inadequate, shoddy, overpriced "PC" monitors.

 

[palladium]

Get a nice mid-size or large 1080p HDTV. I say screw TNs. e-IPS, C-PVA, and all other tech used in small, inadequate, shoddy, overpriced "PC" monitors.

Although I don't like the idea of using TVs as desktop monitors, that is actually a very good idea, taking into account your needs and budget constraints. Issues to consider:

1.Input lag on TVs are usually significantly higher than desktop LCDs, so do take that into account if you're sensitive to lag and play lots of FPSes.

2.Some people (like myself) don't like a 42" TV in front of them.

3. I'm not entirely sure if most TVs are free of vertical bands and what-not. Granted, if you get a plasma/LED TV you're going to get better blacks and "better" colours (darker, richer colours thanks to higher gamut - at the cost of colour accuracy).

If you don't mind spending a little more money, get a VA/IPS panel from Dell (the Dell U2410 has some pretty good reviews) - I don't reside in US but that monitor cost ~NZ$1,200 in NZ(duh!)

Of course, I'm no expert in this area - you should post in the LCD thread if you want further guidance.

Good luck.

 

[Patrick Wolf]

Although I don't like the idea of using TVs as desktop monitors, that is actually a very good idea, taking into account your needs and budget constraints.

I was a little leery about using one too. But I wanted a bigger screen for watching movies on my PC. So I hooked up my LN32A450 with an HDMI>DVI cable and whadda you know it looks and works great! Granted it's only 720p, but it's all I could really afford at the time and I hadn't planned on using it fully as a monitor. Cost me $600 shipped from newegg.

And my PC monitor is the 20WMGX2 (which I still love), so it's not like I was coming from some cheap TN. I'm very picky about A/V quality and I have very little to complain about using my TV in this manner. Granted a native 1080p screen would be better, but playing games at 1080 still looks really good, plus it's a 32" vs. a 20" screen.

The motion resolution is very slightly worse than my GX2, but input lag is extremely good (as far as I can tell). The TV doesn't go into standby mode when the PC tells it to when connected via the HDMI input, works with the VGA input though.

 

[Indus]

I'm not sure of the vesa mount but look at dell s2409w. Just got one for the exact same reasons as you and I'm a gamer and avid movie watcher too, so I am really happy with mine.

 

[Patrick Wolf]

This would be my pick, though I'm not sure if Samsung will release a "C" version for 2010.
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_305LN32...30.html?tp=161

 

[Wag]

You run Win7? How about a multitouch display?

 

[mindless1]

Get a nice mid-size or large 1080p HDTV. I say screw TNs. e-IPS, C-PVA, and all other tech used in small, inadequate, shoddy, overpriced "PC" monitors.

Except if it's sitting on your desk instead of a few more feet away the pixels are so big they start getting cocky and badmouthing you.

 

[Patrick Wolf]

Except if it's sitting on your desk instead of a few more feet away the pixels are so big they start getting cocky and badmouthing you.

Not for me since I'm legally blind and it can't be corrected.

But for 20/20 people you have a point. I think you'd Just need to figure out how far away you want to sit and see what size will work. People sit like 6ft+ away from their TV''s for console games don't they? Can do the same for PC gaming, except you can set them to 1080p and aren't limited to ~720p fixed gaming.

If the pixels do bother you, go smaller. I can't imagine too many people complaining about them on a 32" 1080p screen sitting on their desk. Plus you don't need as much computing power to achieve max eye candy and FPS compared to 2560 x 1600. (I know the OP wants 1080p, but I'm gonna go off-topic a bit.)

Personally, I have everything tied into one display because I spent over a grand on my sound system alone (and that was being conservative) and I just couldn't exlude my PC gaming from this awesome system.

Some people think gaming on a 30" screen @ 2560 x 1600 w/ the Z-5500 is uber-awesome. I say it's half-assed. Once these people game on my setup they'd think twice about dropping a $1000+ on a 30" screen again.

Course if you've got (a lot) of cash to burn you can have the best of both worlds, but few do.

 

[imaheadcase]

The Dell top in 24inch monitors are awesome. I own 2 and love them. They have arm mounts and around $500ish if you get deals online.

GTX260 would support 1900x1200 perfectly. I run that and game a lot.

 

[SmCaudata]

The Dell top in 24inch monitors are awesome. I own 2 and love them. They have arm mounts and around $500ish if you get deals online.

GTX260 would support 1900x1200 perfectly. I run that and game a lot.

I agree. I love my U2410. I do have the original firmware so in 2 of the settings it has some dithering but the only time I've ever noticed it is when I'm doing monitor calibration. Color reproduction, uniformity, brightness, etc are all top notch. I'm pretty sure it's VESA, but you should check it out. The best part is that it has a ton of inputs. DisplayPort, HDMI, 2xDVI, VGA, and some other analog stuff.

If I had the money I'd get their new 27" panel.

Good luck on your search.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

I keep waiting on the U2410, even though it's 1920x1200 and not 1080, but I'll live.

I've seen it on the Dell Canada site for $420 2 days ago, but wouldn't ship to US

For reference, I'm sitting just a few feet away from it, my setup is using this:

So using a 32" would be larger than my field of vision at that distance.

I'm thinking a 27" would be about the max I could do.

I could also use a glossy screen if that would help fake image quality. My setup doesn't have an issue with glare.

I'm pretty sure I"ll get the U2410 once a sub $450 deal comes around.

The other I've been eyeing is the 24" Asus VW246H.

 

[RaistlinZ]

Why is 1920x1050 more preferable than 1920x1200, when the latter gives you more lines of resolution?

 

[imaheadcase]

Yah, 1920x1200 is the preferred rez you want. Anything less on 24 inch looks bland.

1920x1080 its not, regardless of what you see in specs, not good on 24inch monitors. They do that for one simple reason. marketing and cheap panels. People see 1080 and think 1080p, but what you are getting is just a cheap panel.

It really is night and day difference if you use one.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

My rationalization on 1920x1080 is that it seems like games (which I play a lot of) will gravitate towards optimizing for that resolution. Textures, text size, etc. Mostly because of their console brethren.

Maybe I'm being too concerned about it. I've run plenty at x1200 and like the text just fine. Just had the gaming concerns.

I'll wait on a deal on the U2410 unless someone has another nifty suggestion

 

[Absolution75]

My rationalization on 1920x1080 is that it seems like games (which I play a lot of) will gravitate towards optimizing for that resolution. Textures, text size, etc. Mostly because of their console brethren.

That won't have any impact on performance; that's just a rather silly assumption.

Textures will be the same size regardless of resolution - they depend on the actual in game settings (Texture Quality: Low/Med/High). Even if it did matter, the resolutions are so close, developers aren't going to make two sets of textures for a resolution a couple hundred pixels off. . .

Besides that - you could just force windows to use a 1080p resolution on the U2410 and it'd would just center the image.

 

[s44]

I'll wait on a deal on the U2410 unless someone has another nifty suggestion

ZR24w, if it ever appears.

 

[gramboh]

My rationalization on 1920x1080 is that it seems like games (which I play a lot of) will gravitate towards optimizing for that resolution. Textures, text size, etc. Mostly because of their console brethren.

Maybe I'm being too concerned about it. I've run plenty at x1200 and like the text just fine. Just had the gaming concerns.

I'll wait on a deal on the U2410 unless someone has another nifty suggestion

I haven't looked into the U2410 in detail, but I assume it does 1:1 scaling, so if you are concerned you can just play games at 1920x1200 with letterboxing and it will be pixel perfect. I agree with the poster above, 16:9 is stupid for a computer display, not enough vertical resolution unless all you do is watch movies.

I didn't realize the U2410 was $419CDN on days of deals, I would almost have bought one on principal for that price, but my 2407 is humming along perfectly after 3 years, I think I paid $600CDN shipped back then and it is one of the best pieces of PC equipment I've ever bought, zero regrets.

 

[Rhentno]

This kinda thread is why I love my CRT. Good luck OP. I'd switch to an LCD if I could find one that is better than my CRT, but none have fit that bill so far. I was hoping OLED might do it.

 

[tweakboy]

Get a nice 27" Samsung or Dell for about 350 to 400 bones.

You will like that extra 3 inches trust me.. gl

 

[davidrees]

This kinda thread is why I love my CRT. Good luck OP. I'd switch to an LCD if I could find one that is better than my CRT, but none have fit that bill so far. I was hoping OLED might do it.

I was a CRT die hard too - more for the nice refresh rates and lack of ghosting in games.

Then I got an LG 2ms 27" (TN) panel.

I don't do anything that needs accurate color, but this monitor is extremely fast - honestly, if I had known they were this fast, I would have gone sooner.

On the other hand, if you do color accurate work, I don't know what to tell you unless you want to buy a nice Sony 21" CRT

 

[CurseTheSky]

If you want to save some cash but still get a pretty nice monitor, consider the NEC EA231WMi.

It's 23", 1920x1080, E-IPS panel (colors are pretty good, response time is good, and input lag is pretty good), and has VGA, DVI, and DisplayPort connectors (get a DVI -> HDMI adapter if you need HDMI). I don't know if it's VESA mountable - I would hope so - but look it up first to confirm. What makes it really stand out is the $300-350 street price, and it's EASILY found in that price range. I think I paid about $320 shipped for mine.

Next to my 2408WFP (S-IPS panel) it looks great. Of course it's a bit smaller, but I find the colors tend to be a bit better and I don't miss the 120 vertical pixels at all. The 2408WFP does have noticeably better white tones, while the EA231WMi either seems too cool or too warm on whites.

If a good price is one of your top priorities, I highly recommend it.

 

[taltamir]

you can buy quality panels, they are just expensive.
the highest quality are OLED panels, they are also insanely expensive and at the moment very small.
the next best things is IPS and PVA, followed by e-IPS, C-PVA followed by TN.
For back light on the above 5 (not OLED, it has no backlight), RGB LED is best, followed by fluorescent bulb, followed by white LED. (thats the order of quality, not power consumption or cost; which each has a different order; although the RGB leds have the highest cost; both LED types take about 1/3 the power of the fluorescent)

for most people, TN is "good enough"... its cheap, it doesn't consume much power (especially compared to CRTs), and its drawbacks are not that critical. If you are sick of it, then get a higher quality panel.

Finally, there is the quality of the internal electronics.

RGB LED are insane expensive right now:
http://www.amazon.com/20IN-LCD-600-1.../dp/B001HELH3C
http://www.adorama.com/Als/ProductPa...68449045110014

so you are better off sticking to traditional backlight with a quality panel and electronics. Read some monitor reviews for a really good one.

 

[jiffylube1024]

I'm using a Dell 2709W and love it. 1920x1200.